5 Shortcuts To Becoming A Keyboard Power User

As our students become developers, we teach them to take control of their development environment by using more of the keyboard and less of the mouse/trackpad. As they write their code, using (Mac and Sublime) keyboard commands/shortcuts are invaluable and allow them to, well... crush it!

Mastering your text editor and Operating System (OS) will make you an immeasurably more efficient and impressive developer.

Below is just a handful of some of the commands we give our students. When in our bootcamp, they get access to many more. As students progress, they are expected by teachers to use their editor/OS the way a seasoned developer does.

One last note: don't just read about these. If any of these are foreign / unfamiliar to you, be sure to practice them and make a mental note to use them when possible. It may be a little uncomfortable at first but it's always worth it! Now, let’s get into it:

Cmd + ~ (OS X)

The tilde key is beside the 1 key on your keyboard

Used to switch between windows of the same app

Great for when you have multiple Chrome windows. When are in Chrome, use it to switch between all Chrome windows

Cmd + Arrow keys (OS X)

Jump to start/end of line (Home/End in Windows/Linux)

Used very commonly in most editors/word processors

Hold down Shift to select as you do this

Cmd + T (Terminal, Chrome, Finder)

Create new tab (tabs are awesome!)

Cmd + Shift + T (Chrome) / Ctrl + Shift + T (Win/Linux)

Re-open a previously closed tab

Cmd + Alt + Arrow keys (Sublime Text 3, Chrome, and Terminal)

Switch between open tabs using the left/right arrow keys

Can also use Cmd + Shift + [ or Cmd + Shift + arrow] to go left/right in tabs.

Bonus protip: never minimize (OS X)

Only novice Mac users minimize apps and windows - there's no need for it (if you've got the skills!)

Note to Windows Users: While these are OS X-specific, the Windows commands are essentially the same. Instead of Cmd, you will usually use Ctrl. Don't take my word for it though - you may have to experiment or research this.

These are just a handful of the power user functions we'll teach you. If you'd like to become a full-blown power user, apply to our bootcamp now!